1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a printing apparatus that prints on a print-receiving medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
As an example of a printing apparatus according to a prior art, a printing apparatus (label producing apparatus) has been proposed in which a tape that acts as a print-receiving material is stored within a cartridge in the form of a roll and desired characters are print while the tape is fed out from the roll in label-shape. (Refer to JP, A, 2006-309557 for example).
This prior art comprises a roll around which a base tape (double-sided adhesive tape), which is provided with a separation sheet, is wound, and a roll around which a print-receiving tape (film tape) to be bonded to this base tape is wound. The base tape and the print-receiving tape are respectively fed out from these two rolls driven by the driving force of a feeding roller (pressure roller) while a desired print is printed on the print-receiving tape by a printing means. The printed print-receiving tape and the base tape are then bonded to each other so as to form a label tape with print. This label tape with print is then cut by a cutter, thereby producing a label with print (printed label).
In response to the increase in use of printed labels in recent years, there has been a desire for varied uses, generating needs for producing many types of printed labels whose properties are modified in many ways. For example, a desire has arisen for printed labels with properties corresponding to these needs, by using many different types of layer structures for the tape used in labels, using tapes with differing widths and thicknesses, and so on. With the above prior art it is possible to respond to needs for variations in layer structure therein, and it is possible not only to produce printed labels using tape in which a base tape is bonded to a label with print after printing (and whose thickness dimension becomes relatively thicker), but also printed labels using only tape with print after performing desired printing (and whose thickness dimension is relatively thinner).
However, with the constitution described above in which tape feed is performed using a feeding roller, there is a possibility of a difference in feeding speeds arising if, for example, the thicknesses of the tapes differ, since a difference will arise in the distance from the center of the roller to the outer diameter of the tape, in terms of the circumference of the feeding roller. In other words, even if the feeding roller is rotating at the same rotational speed, a larger tape thickness might cause the tape feeding speed to become relatively faster, since the distance from the center of the roller to the tape outer circumference surface will grow, while if the thickness of the tape is small, the tape feeding speed might become relatively slower since the distance from the center of the roller to the tape outer circumference surface will be smaller.
If such variation in feeding speeds occurs, a variation in the balance with the print forming process by the printing means will also occur, creating the risk that printing in the property intended by the operator cannot be done reliably. In other words, the above example entails a risk of the interval between characters in the printer label actually produced being larger than the property of printing intended by the operator, since a faster feeding speed will cause feeding to advance faster than intended in terms of the relationship between feeding and the print forming process. In contrast, if the feeding speed is slower, then feeding will lag more than intended in terms of the relationship between feeding and the print forming process, creating the risk that the interval between characters will be more narrowly cramped in the printed labels actually produced than in the property of printing intended by the operator.
Note that the size of the tape thickness was given as an example above, but other causes can also be imagined which might affect the feeding speed and cause a similar problem, such as the material of the tape, the type, the size of the pull-out force, the size of the frictional coefficient, and so on. Further, the presence of antennas, etc., has also affected feeding speed in the production of RFID labels with print that are provided with antennas or IC circuit parts, when this is applied to RFID systems that read/write information in a non-contact manner between the compact wireless tags and the readers (reading apparatus)/writers (writing apparatus) whose practical application has advanced in recent years.